How to Delegate Your Way to Freedom in Your Business

Many business owners get into business in order to create freedom in their life. Whether trying to achieve financial freedom or to be able to spend more time with loved ones, nothing beats owning your own business. The sad reality though is that few business owners actually achieve all of the assumed freedom that true business ownership offers.

If business ownership is such a great way to create independence, why do so few business owners actually achieve that level?

The answer can be boiled down to just one word: CONTROL.

In all of our years of practice, we find that most owners value being in control more than the value of creating an asset that makes money even while they are away from the business. Our culture has incorrectly adopted the notion of “if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself.” The fact of the matter is that the best way to scale a business is by developing a delegation process that allows you, as the owner, to obtain the freedom you want while at the same time being in control.

So, how does a business owner go about do that? Well, to do it, you need three vital elements: the right ingredients, the right process, and the end result.

The Right Ingredients

In order to free up time while maintaining control, a business owner must first understand and decide who can handle the delegation of tasks. For example, if the task you are seeking to delegate requires a high level of attention to detail, don’t delegate it to the bubbly person in your office that can barely remember where your office is located. In other words, prior to delegating a task, be strategic with your delegation of tasks and make sure the person on the receiving end has the right characteristics to execute the task involved.

The Right Process

I am always amazed when I walk into a Chick-Fil-A. Here are a bunch of 16 year olds coordinating multiple tasks at the same time…WITHOUT the business owner having to immediately oversee their assignments. Why is that? Simple – the first thing a new Chick-Fil-A franchise owner gets is the operations manual. The operation manual spells out how to carry out the various processes of the business so that each person understands their role in the store.

The manager at each store is responsible for ensuring that each employee is doing their job each and every day based upon the key performance indicators for each job. This ensures that the taste of that store’s chicken and french fries tastes exactly like another franchise in another part of the country.

The End Result

Many employers are frustrated with their employees because they just can’t seem to get the task right. In order to fix that, one must communicate with that employee, the EXACT end result warranted from that employee. In other words, you must be specific with expectations, must set a timeline to measure completion expectations, and you must be able to measure whether they are doing it right or not.

With these three elements in place, you as a business owner are well on your way to freeing up your time and scaling your business.